If the only experience you have of sketching is drawing doodles, these tips and tricks will build your confidence in drawing intricate and captivating artwork. Although this advice is useful for beginners, seasoned artists can also get valuable insights that will help them perfect their drawing skills. If you enjoy life drawing or portrait drawing but you still haven’t yet mastered how to draw the perfect eye, these 5 simple tips will help you create captivating and realistic eyes.
Top 5 Tips for Learning How to Draw the Perfect Eye:
- Find the Right Tools
- Get the Placement Right
- Discover Your Muse
- Sketch an Outline
- Concentrate on Sections
1. Make Sure You Have the Right Tools
Before you get started sketching the perfect eye, it's important to make sure you have all the right equipment! Luckily, when it comes to drawing and sketching you don't need many materials. Here are the three main tools you will need for drawing the perfect eye,
- Blank paper
- Pencil
- Eraser
For a beginner, finding the right paper and the right pencils can be quite overwhelming. However, the friendly team at the London Graphic Centre make finding the right tools a easy!
Whether you want to keep it simple and learn with the materials you have at home or you want to explore new pencils, paper and erasers, as long as you have these three tools, you can learn how to sketch the perfect eye.
2. Get the Placement Right
Those who have tried to sketch eyes before may have found that finding the right placement on the face can be quite difficult. Often, beginners draw the eyes far too high and struggle to visualise the right place on the human face to sketch the perfect eyes.
Lottie Cole, founder of Minerva Workshop, has an insightful tip that will help all beginners tackle this challenging step.
Lottie encourages students to visualise the skull as a whole when drawing the perfect eyes,
'If you think of the skull as an egg shape, your eyes are half way down, which always feels far to low, but when you consider the hair line, they truly are at the mid-point of the skull.'
To take this tip one step further, Lottie also believes that imaging the placement of the ears and other facial features may be very useful for beginners,
'Draw the outer edge of the eye lines through with the top of the ear where it joins closest to the head. Ears are deceptively far back on your head really above the centre of your shoulder and not at all on the side of your head like jug handles!'
Minerva Workshop runs a wide range of interactive and creative workshops designed to help beginners explore their artistic nature.
As well as mastering how to draw the perfect eye, within life drawing classes at the inspiring Minerva Workshop studio, beginners can also learn how to draw other features of the human figure.
From curves to angular features, get step-by-step guidance on how to draw the intricacies of the human body with life drawing classes at Minerva Workshop.
Book now on Obby3. Discover Your Muse
For any life drawing or portrait artwork, even when focusing on specific features, it can be incredibly helpful to have a model or muse to refer back to. Whether you have a real life model or a clear picture of an eye to take inspiration from, having a muse is always an advantage!
Working from a muse can support your sketching as following the shape, colour and detail of your muse will guide you through the process of drawing the perfect eye.
4. Sketch an Outline
Rochelle Clarke is a talented artist and part of the welcoming team at MasterPeace.
When it comes to learning how to draw the perfect eye, Rochelle believes it can be incredibly useful to get started with a sketched outline.
‘I think it's always good to start with a lightly sketched general outline to estimate the proportions of the eye. And then starting from the pupil, work your way out towards the eyebrow.’
The fear of the blank page can be very daunting for artists of any level! Even experienced artists can sometimes find the initial process of creating their art intimidating.
The only way to overcome this fear is to start! The first step is as easy as it seems, all you need to do is follow Rochelle's expertise and simply sketch the outline of the eye.
With your sketched outline, you can now get started on the pupil and the many other alluring aspects of the eye.
The act of sketching and drawing has been used for many as an avenue into practising mindfulness. Rochelle, as well as the rest of the team at MasterPeace, believe that the process of creating art should be celebrated as much as the finished art itself.
Life drawing classes at MasterPeace will get your creative juices flowing while also enlightening you to the mindful process of creating art.
Book now on Obby5. Concentrate on Sections
Rochelle, as well as many other artists, believes that it can be very useful to focus on drawing one section of the eye at a time.
'Every drawing can be broken down into sections to make it easier for you to pay attention to each detail.'
Finding the right features to focus on can be quite overwhelming when thinking about the intricate details of the eye you're trying to draw. Luckily, Rochelle has outlined how drawing the eye can be broken down into the following sections,
'Pupil, iris, outline, inner corners, eyelids & creases, waterlines, shadows & wrinkles and eyebrows'
Dividing your drawing into sections is a highly beneficial approach as it allows you to break down the eye into small, manageable pieces. However, Rochelle believes focusing on one section at a time also allows students to pay attention to the complexities of the eye their drawing.
'Most importantly, take your time. It’s attention to detail that makes a great artist, and to do that you have to really stare at your reference’s and drawings long enough for you to notice details that others wouldn’t.'
Focusing on one section at a time makes learning how to draw the perfect eye a manageable yet rewarding process. Not only will you notice small characteristics that might have gone unacknowledged, this method will also help you create a beautiful and realistic drawing.
Need more advice?
When it comes to drawing, whether it is drawing the perfect eye or the full human figure, there are plenty of tips and tricks from professional artists to help you create realistic artwork. These tips can be used when working with different art media, from pencils to charcoal. If you found these top 5 tips for learning how to draw the perfect eye helpful, then why not get even more in-depth step-by-step guidance within a beginner workshop? Discover the best life drawing and portrait drawing workshops with Obby!
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